Thursday, January 23, 2020

Parshat Lekh Lekha

 This page is dedicated to categorizing and slightly expanding the blurbs of each article on the parsha. Instead of presenting here per how things were written chronologically (in the order of the years each was written), the goal is to divide in the order of the narrative's subject matter.

Avraham's Development
Avraham's Age When Discovering God - There are many opinions as to how old the first forefather was when he realized there is a God in the world. Each one speaks of a different possibility due to stages all humans go through

Avraham and Prayer - Learning from Avraham Avinu how to focus when praying and what to zero in on when engaging with this special opportunity to communicate with the Divine

Getting the Hint to Grow our Nation - With Tefillah  - the need to pray for others was added to the thought published earlier at this link

Being Courteous and Respectful - A Motto for Life - There is a strange mystery in the Torah, as when we first meet Avraham and Sarah as they journey to Canaan, they are accompanied by "the souls they made in Charan." This is the only reference the Torah makes to them. Here we address who they were and why they seemed to disappear

Avraham's Early Travels - to Canaan, Egypt, and Back to Canaan

"Now I Know"...? Where have you been? - We explore how Avraham seems to discover his wife's beauty on the way down to Egypt

The Canaanites Were in the Land - Avraham in a Land Not (Yet) His Own - What does it mean to live in a place where different Peoples live? Who is considered indigenous? What is considered a stranger? Isn't it enough for everyone to simply be a human being? What does it mean to participate in the democratic process of voting?

...  and With his Nephew Lot
Avraham in Canaan and Egypt - with LOTs of Questions = what was Nephew Lot's role in all of this? How Avraham realizes that his own peace of mind and success in growing in his relationship with God is very much contingent on the company he keeps

Lot's Tarnished Legacy - And How to Avoid It - Gratitude, Honesty, and God were all to be a part of Lot's life. Since they weren't, Lot is deemed a failure

Lot's Failures - The desire for sin which overwhelmed Lot and defined his legacy. Sin comes in many forms, and Lot fell to many of them.

Bris Bein HaBesarim
Waking From Slumber: Comparing Adam to Avraham - a unique verse tells us a lot about the Avraham, when comparing him to Ada

Bondage Equals the Greatest Bond of the Ages - An exploration of the necessity of the Israelites to be enslaved in Egypt, so they can become a nation united forever

Beating the Vultures - the symbolism of Avraham chasing away the vultures aimed at eating the carcasses of the Covenant Between the Parts

Avraham and Sarah (Avram and Sarai)
Sarai's Hope As a Lesson For Our Own Struggles - Infertility is more common than we know, and therefore a sensitivity is always in order

Avraham's Relationships and Sarai's Chamas (חמס) - Why was Sarah so upset with Avraham after Hagar became pregnant. Why? Wasn't that the goal? It seems that she wasn't "angry" - if we properly translate the word חמס, we find a very different meaning to her statement

When in An Argument... - There are a number of disputes that come out through the dialogues in this parsha. What are the rules of argumentative disagreement that we can learn from these narratives?

Bris Milah
The Covenant of Circumcision - Some thoughts on the importance of the covenant, and by extension the importance of circumcision for Jews. 

No comments:

Post a Comment